Saturday's Best MLB Bets
Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals (-150, 8)
The Cardinals have given Jaime Garcia extra rest lately. It seemed to help the lefty in his last outing, when he allowed seven hits and two runs, one earned, over six innings against the Reds.
In his previous three starts, however, Garcia was tagged for 15 earned runs in 17 1/3 innings.
Braves starter Derek Lowe has a poor WHIP of 1.47 and was just ripped by the Phillies for eight hits and seven runs, five earned, over five innings. He’s walked 10 batters in his last three starts.
The over is 9-1 in Lowe’s last 10 road starts, and 6-2 in Garcia’s last eight home starts.
These two pitchers have combined to post a 35-21 O/U mark.
Pick: Over
Cincinnati Reds at Colorado Rockies (-120, 11)
Bronson Arroyo has an unsightly ERA of 5.00, but recently he’s put things together, allowing two runs or less in three of his last five starts.
He’s 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA over his last three starts.
Colorado starter Alex White is a 23-year-old rookie who has made six starts, three since the Rockies acquired him from Cleveland.
Batters are hitting .277 against White. He’s yielded 14 earned runs and 10 walks in three Colorado starts.
The Reds have been a big disappointment, but they can still hit. They ranked second in the NL with 661 runs heading into Friday night’s action.
Pick: Reds
Saturday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
STREAKING
Henderson Alvarez, Toronto Blue Jays (1-2, 2.95 ERA)
The 21-year-old rookie hasn’t been scored upon in his last two starts, covering 14 innings against the Red Sox and Orioles. And he’s only given up seven hits and one walk in that span while fanning nine. Batters are hitting .230 against him.
Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies (16-7, 2.47 ERA)
His average fastball velocity is a career-high 91.6 mph. He has a sterling WHIP of 1.03. And he hasn’t given up a run in his last three starts, covering 24 2/3 innings. Lee is making a strong case for the Cy Young award.
SLUMPING
Alex White, Colorado Rockies (2-1, 5.63 ERA)
In three starts since being acquired from the Indians, White has yielded four homers, 19 hits, 10 walks and 14 earned runs in 17 innings. Batters are hitting .277 against the 23-year-old rookie.
Fausto Carmona, Cleveland Indians (6-14, 5.18 ERA)
Carmona has only one win since July 19, and he’s 24-40 since 2009. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings last time out against the Tigers, getting drilled for seven earned runs on eight hits. He’s given up at least three earned runs in four of his past six starts.
Cliff Lee, Phillies At Milwaukee Brewers
By: Jeff Grant
The Philadelphia Phillies are hoping to show the Milwaukee Brewers that they have a long way to go in supplanting them as the best team in the National League this weekend. Both teams are set to play the third contest of a four-game set Saturday night with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 (ET) inside Miller Park.
Philadelphia opened the highly-anticipated series between two of the three NL division leaders with a 7-2 win Thursday night. The victory evened the season series at two games apiece.
The Phillies are a club-record 44 games over .500 and have won 18 of their last 23 road contests, including wins in nine of the last 11 series away from Citizens Bank Park.
Much of the team’s success has been attributed to the pitching staff that leads the majors with a 3.05 ERA. The unit is led by a starting rotation that paces the league with 69 wins and a 2.90 ERA.
Cliff Lee (16-7, 2.47 ERA) has been one of the top pitchers in the league since the All-Star break, posting a 7-1 record and 1.76 ERA in nine starts, issuing just 11 walks and registering 67 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings. Lee is coming off a dominant performance in his first September start, tossing a complete game 9-0 home shutout over the Atlanta Braves.
It was a continuation of his tremendous month of August when he tallied a 5-0 mark and 0.45 ERA in five starts.
The left-hander has made just two career starts versus the Brewers, going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA. He led the club to a 4-3 home win in a no-decision effort against Milwaukee in his fourth outing of the year, allowing three runs (two earned) and eight hits over six frames.
Bettors will find that the Phillies are 6-0 in Lee’s last six tries against teams from the NL Central division.
Milwaukee is just 4-6 in its last 10 games, but still lead the St. Louis Cardinals by eight games. The Brewers are among baseball’s elite teams due to their 50-20 home record. It’s important to point out that this squad has absolutely dominated opponents during weekend games, posting a 33-13 combined record on Saturday and Sunday this season.
Randy Wolf (12-9, 3.47) is scheduled to make his 30th start of the season and will be facing someone other than the Cardinals for the first time since August 26. The left-hander picked up a 4-1 road win over the division rivals last time out (8 IP, ER).
The 35-year-old has enjoyed pitching in front of the home fans, coming in with a 7-3 record and 3.46 ERA, surrendering 12 home runs in 14 starts. Wolf spent some time in Philadelphia during his MLB career and is 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA in six starts against his former team. He has dominated Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, limiting him to a .118 batting average in 17 career at-bats against him.
Total players will find that the Brewers have gone 'over' the total in his last four starts versus NL East teams.
Home plate umpire Todd Tichenor has a 19-12 record in favor of the home teams with the ‘under’ is 17-13-1 in his 31 games behind the mask this season.
Weather forecasts suggest mostly sunny skies and game-time temperatures in the upper-60s. It’s likely such conditions will keep Miller Park’s roof open for the entire game.
NY Yankees Travel West To Face LA Angels
By: Evan Abrams
The New York Yankees are winning games at a fast pace right now and beginning to put some space between themselves and second-place Boston in the American League East. The Los Angeles Angels are just trying to stay within reach of the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West with less than a month to go in the regular season.
Game 2 of the series between the Yankees and Angels will take place Saturday night at 9:05 p.m. (ET) from Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
The series started Friday night with the Angels laying -135 on the money line, the run total opening at 7 ½ and the outcome still pending.
The Angels just finished a 3-game set at home versus the Seattle Mariners where they took two out of three games and managed to save the best of their rotation for the weekend series against New York.
Starting for the Yankees on Friday will be their perennial ace C.C. Sabathia (19-7, 2.97), who has struck out at least six batters in his last 14 starts. Pitching for the Angels will be one of their two aces, Dan Haren (14-8, 3.20). Haren has only walked four men in his last 46 2/3-innings pitched and has been a huge key for the Angels down the stretch of the season.
Sabathia is statistically having one of the best seasons of his career, posting a career-low in ERA and a career-high in strikeouts. The southpaw is currently two wins shy of tying his best mark of 21 set last season.
Since C.C. joined New York in 2009, he has won 59 games and helped the Yankees to a 27th World Championship.
The Yankees have historically struggled in Anaheim, going 10-22 in their last 32 trips to play the Angels. Sabathia faced the Angels once this season back in June when he came up one out short of a complete game in defeating the Angels, 3-2.
Haren last faced the Yankees on August 9, tossing 6 2/3-innings while allowing six hits and four earned runs in a no-decision. The Angels eventually won the game, 6-4.
Saturday’s contest will be the third game of a 10-game road trip for New York that will take them from Baltimore to Los Angeles to Seattle, then finally to Toronto before returning home for an 8-game homestand against the Twins, Rays and Red Sox.
The American League East and American League West divisions are the only two in Major League Baseball right now that have a fight for first place within seven games. That is why this weekend series between the Angels and Yankees will go a long way in deciding who will play in October for the American League.
The weather for Saturday is scheduled to be partly cloudy but otherwise a beautiful night for September baseball on the West Coast.